Rotational characteristics

Physical characteristics

Oberon is the second largest of the moons of Uranus. It is probably composed of water ice and rock.[3][6]

Surface

The surface of Oberon has many impact craters. Many of these have bright rays that radiate from them, similar to those found on Callisto.[2][3][6]

The surface, including many of the crater floors, is partially covered with a dark material of unknown origin. Some astronomers speculate that this material is an aqueous solution that upwelled from the interior.[2][6]

Problems for uniformitarian theories posed by Oberon

Oberon poses the same problem for uniformitarian astronomy as do all the other moons of Uranus: its orbit is inclined severely to the ecliptic, though not to Uranus' own equator. How the Uranian system came to have such an inclination has never been explained.

Observation and Exploration

Oberon is visible on a dark sky through a telescope having an aperture of 30 cm or more.[3]

The only spacecraft to explore Oberon has been Voyager 2. It approached to within 470,600 km of Oberon on January 24, 1986, and took a small number of images.[8][9] No other detailed images are available.